Monthly Archives: July 2011

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Cowboys and Aliens, or The Smurfs? Which movie will rank supreme? With summer in full swing, what better way to escape the heat than kickin’ back and watching a movie this weekend? There are some big new releases we have been waiting for since their previews graced the big screen early this year. Here is what we think.
The Weekend's Big Winner:
Cowboys and Aliens. 1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Daniel Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). It's a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky, that even batman couldn't stop. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.
The Weekend's Best Bet:
The Smurfs make their first 3D trip to the big screen in Columbia Pictures'/Sony Pictures Animation's hybrid live-action and animated family comedy. When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the Smurfs out of their village, they're forced through a portal, out of their world and into ours, landing in the middle of New York's Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.
(Both movies will be released this Friday July 29th!)
So, which movie are you gonna see? Feel like escaping reality for a while, watching a sci-fi western comic book turned movie, with an incredible cast and great special effects? Or are you going to take the nostalgic route, remembering the years of watching the little blue guys on the boob tube during your Saturday morning cartoon line-up. Comment below and tell us what you think!!!

Christopher Nolan sure knows how to make you wait. We were almost tempted to take out our old Batman figures and create a very conservatively budgeted trailer when a summer storm knocked out our power this week. But we're grateful that we didn't have to do the extra work. Finally for your viewing pleasure: The Dark Knight Rises Official Trailer.

This repost is brought to you by the Star Trek T Shirt Collection at popfunk.com and by Craig Baird at roadtickle.com.Star Trek is one of the most famous television shows and media franchises in the world today, and while many love the storylines of the original show, along with its spinoffs and movies, we may not fully realize the impact the show has had on our lives. No, we are not talking about pop culture impacts, but what Star Trek envisioned for technology, which then inspired many scientists to make those visions a reality. In many ways, that little show from the 1960s has essentially invented the future as we know it.
So, what are some of the things we have now that Star Trek invented?
1. Personal Computing
When Star Trek debuted in 1966, computers were very large, very expensive and very slow compared with what we have today. That didn’t stop Gene Roddenberry from envisioning a future where small computers were in every meeting room and wherever people needed them. The computers in the original series were larger than what we have today, but they were personal computers nonetheless.
Roughly five years after Star Trek left the air waves, the Altair 8800 was built by Ed Roberts, who just happened to name the computer after a galaxy mentioned in Star Trek. This build-it-yourself personal computer was pretty basic, but it would inspire two guys named Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to improve upon the model and usher in the age of the personal computer.
On that same note, the Tablet PC also appeared in the original Star Trek, with Captain Kirk using a tablet and stylus to sign off on important matters. Everyone who uses an iPad now can thank Star Trek for showing us what a tablet PC could do in the 1960s. Oh, and what was the name of the tablet PC used in Star Trek? The PADD….
2. Portable Computer Memory
From the old floppy disks, to the small hard disks, over to our memory sticks with their huge capacities, all this portable memory could be found in the 1960s, in Star Trek. Star Trek used square disks that were three inches by three inches and only a quarter of an inch thick. To use them, they were inserted in computers where they would display the information contained on them, sound familiar?
3. Wireless Ear Piece
Drive down the road in the city and you will probably see quite a few people using Bluetooth headsets to talk to people without having to hold a cell phone to their ear. Well, roughly 30 years before cell phones became mainstream, Star Trek was already using wireless earpieces for communication. That is not too bad considering that Star Trek envisioned wireless earpieces 300 years from now.
4. GPS
No, we do not have transporters, although scientists have been able to transport individual light particles for a couple years now, but we do have GPS. Back in Star Trek: The Original Series, the transporter system could lock onto someone and transport them from where they were to some place else. Locators on the communicators were used to find where individuals were in the show, kind of like how we have GPS in our phones now that show where we are. It was only four years after the end of the original Star Trek that the Department of Defense began to develop GPS. By launching satellites they were able to refine the system over time and after 1983 it became available to the public. By 2000, it was possible to find someone within 20 meters of their location. Now with things like OnStar in our cars and GPS in our phones, even emergency personnel can find us without us saying where we are.
5. Tricorders
Having something that scans the area around you and tells you information that you need about that area doesn’t quite exist yet, although we are getting pretty close. What we do have is devices like the PDA, the Blackberry and the iPod/iPhone.
These wonderful little devices have screens that display to us information we access from the internet, much like a tricorder would in Star Trek. When they needed information, they would call it up on a tricorder and see it on a tiny screen, no different than we do with our handheld devices today. Given how far these devices have come, it should be no surprise that pretty soon they will have sensors.
6. Plasma Screens
In the days of the original Star Trek series, televisions had small screens and the quality was not very good. The concept of the Enterprises’ view screen was amazing to many people who wished they could have a television as large as what was on the Enterprise. Before Star Trek, spaceships used windows at the front, but with The Original Series, a video screen became the norm for many science fiction shows and movies. These days, more and more plasma screens are hitting the market and the price is falling. The days of the old tube television are now disappearing as people get their own large view screens in their home. Screens these days hit about 50 inches before they become too pricey but it won’t be long before 100 or 200 inch plasma televisions turn the walls of our homes into view screens. Thanks Star Trek!
7. Cell Phones
Probably the most famous invention to come from Star Trek is the cell phone. In the days of Star Trek: The Original Series, Captain Kirk and the gang would use a communicator to speak with each other simply by opening it and hailing someone by saying their name into the communicator. This may have seemed far-fetched considering at the time rotary phones were the most common phones in the world. It was Martin Cooper, an employee of Motorola, who invented the cell phone. When asked what was the inspiration for the cell phone, he is not shy of saying Star Trek’s communicator was what started the gears in his mind moving. Only four years after the cancellation of Star Trek, the first portable cell phone call was made. Just over 20 years after the Original Series debuted, one million cell phones were in use and it just exploded from there. These days there are hundreds of millions of cell phone users across the planet and cell phones are now pushing the old land-line phone into museums. Our cell phones these days are more than what the communicator of Star Trek was considering we can now take photos, access the internet, use GPS and keep track of everything in the PDA functionality of our smart phones.
Soundoff: What other inventions do you think will be made possible that have debuted in sci-fi films recently?!?

This re-mixed repost is brought to you by the Marilyn Monroe T Shirt Collection at popfunk.com and Entertainment Weekly writer Sandra Gonzalez.
Lady Gaga, Coldplay, and Nicki Minaj helm star-studded lineup for Ryan Seacrest-hosted iHeartRadio Music Festival
This fall, Las Vegas will welcome some of the biggest names in pop music—and one tiny host.
Today, Clear Channel announced a monstrously huge line-up of A-list musicians for the iHeartRadio Music Festival, set to take place Sept. 23 and 24 and celebrate the launch of iHeartRadio, the company’s free digital radio service that combines Clear Channel’s broadcast and digital stations.
The line-up includes: Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Steven Tyler (no Aerosmith?), The Black Eyed Peas, Kenny Chesney, Jennifer Lopez, Carrie Underwood, Jane’s Addiction, Nicki Minaj, John Mayer, David Guetta, Rascal Flatts, Bruno Mars, Kelly Clarkson, Sublime with Rome and special performances from Usher and Sting, with more to be announced, according to a press release.
Details on pre-sale tickets are available at facebook.com/iHeartRadio and tickets will also be available to the general public beginning July 16 at iHeartRadio.com.
Sound Off: What's your summer soundtrack sounding like? Who are you dying to see perform before Old Man Winter returns??

This re-mixed repost is brought to you by the Zombie Walk T Shirt Collection at popfunk.com and Stephanie Lee at ign.com.Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation DLC Impressions
New multiplayer maps, including a new Zombie map. Oh, and zombie monkeys!
-Stephanie Lee
A few months ago, we reported that 1 in 8 households own a copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops. Can you imagine the staggering number of headshots amassed worldwide?
Activision and Treyarch are clearly aware of this astonishing statistic as they continue to ride out the phenomenal success of the title by dropping yet another expansion pack on Xbox Live: Annihilation. As an incentive to pick this up as soon as possible, Activision and Treyarch are even hosting a Double XP weekend for you trigger-happy folks, starting on July 1st. Whether you hate it or love it, Call of Duty: Black Ops is here to stay, especially now with its renewed aggression on the multiplayer front.
Similar to the Escalation map pack that was released just this past May, Annihilation offers four new multiplayer maps and a new Zombie map called Shangri-La. Being a huge fan of the undead-slaying survival mode myself, I immediately took to the new Zombie map like white on rice and immersed myself in the remains of a once glorious and hospitable civilization. Shangri-La is a refreshing departure from the dreary, dark environments of the previous Zombie maps.
In Shangri-La, I stumbled upon motion-sensitive traps, underground tunnels, a run-down village, and a scenic cove. Shangri-La constantly foils your plans to survive with tar pits that impede your movement, a myriad of traps, and -- let's not forget -- the legion of blood-thirsty undead nipping at your heels.
Prepare to see new foes join the fray, with napalm zombies (these zombies are engulfed in flames; you really can't miss them), female zombies, Shriekers, and the best part of all: zombie monkeys! Fans of Zombie mode will no doubt be thrilled to find all of this and all its secrets in Shangri-La.
For the Call of Duty acolytes that are keen on popping the heads off of friends and strangers online, I'm happy to report that these new maps are a joy to play in. The maps in the core game were known to be a little unfriendly to snipers, but these new maps allow sharpshooters to ply their trade. There are plenty of wide-open areas and perches for skilled marksmen to draw a bead on unsuspecting players.
The first sniping map of note is Hazard, which is a long golf course set in the crumbling remains of a resort. The entire middle part of the map quickly devolves into a no-man's land, because any player wandering into that grassy course gets shot down within moments by hidden assailants. Because of this dynamic, most of the action gets pushed to the sides of the battlefield. On modes like Domination, this map can get especially trying (but exciting) for teams pushing to win.
One of my favorite maps, Drive-In, caters to fans of close-quarters combat, showering them with tons of tight spaces to pop out of and nooks and crannies to run through. Inspired by the Nuketown map, Drive-In thrives on action and, in some ways, the element of surprise. Be it an abandoned arcade room or a dilapidated playground, Drive-In is the go-to map for insane Team Deathmatch action. Plus, there's just something awfully poetic about planting some hot lead in someone's skull under a giant projection screen cycling through still pictures.
Visually, Hangar 18 feels like it is the most uninspired of the maps, but that's not to say it's a bad map. In fact, in terms of layout and the size there's certainly a lot of fun to be had. The action heats up in the central part of the battlefield, but the astute hunters tend to snake around and pick their firefights on the outskirts. And Hangar 18 is just the right size for running and gunning.
Lastly, I wasn't too impressed with Silo, but that doesn't mean it's not without its strengths -- it just didn't jive with me. Set in an underground Russian nuclear silo, Silo provides players with a gigantic playing field outfitted with many flanking routes.
Of all the Black Ops DLCs so far, Annihilation boasts some really great maps, not to mention an exhilarating new Zombie mode, that would surely please all types of players. If you thought the last map pack delivered, then Annihilation will simply rock your face off. It does more than add a fresh coat of paint over the fatigued multiplayer. Zombie-slayers will benefit greatly from the refreshing change of pace that Shangri-La delivers. And one thing's for sure: Annihilation certainly recharged my interest in Black Ops multiplayer.
Sound Off:
On average how many hours do you spend playing Black Ops per week? Will you appreciate the new changes made to the popular game?

This remixed post is brought to you by The Batman T-Shirt Collection and The Dark Knight T-Shirt Collection at popfunk.com, and Eric Ditzian at MTV News.
The Christopher Nolan-directed action flick features the return of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and Batman, as well as Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine. Anne Hathaway joins the movie as Catwoman, while Joseph Gordon Levitt takes on the role of John Blake and Tom Hardy as the villainous Bane.
The Dark Knight Rises is expected to hit theaters July 2012. You can catch The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer, which is supposed to debut in front of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," when it opens on Friday.
The teaser poster for the third Batman film installment entitled The Dark Knight Rises shows what appears to be skyscrapers in Batman's hometown of Gotham City crumbling while forming the iconic Batman figure.
"There is an ominous air of destruction in the urban environment: The buildings appear to be crumbling, debris raining downward — a stark visual contrast to the film title's single tweak since the previous installment: the addition of the word 'rises'."
Soundoff: Will The Dark Knight Rises surpass the success of The Dark Knight? How do you feel about Anne Hathaway entering the cast as Catwoman?

The future is now, as 24th century technology meets 21st century mobile devices in the form of a Star Trek PADD app. Available today from CBS Interactive, which developed it in conjunction with CBS Mobile and ArcTouch, the official Star Trek PADD (Personal Access Display Device) app features an impressive, interactive database of Star Trek television show information, ranging from characters and ships to alien worlds and an episode guide, as well as Star Trek images, including a faithful reproduction of the LCARS interface, plus a recognizable computer voice, familiar Star Trek sounds and more, all spanning from The Original Series to Star Trek: Enterprise.
Additionally, fans can keep track of the latest Star Trek news and interact with fellow Star Trek fans from the official Star Trek Facebook page and Twitter, both of which are directly integrated into the apps.
“Star Trek fans are passionately involved with all things Star Trek,” said Rob Gelick, SVP and GM, CBS Mobile. “Through this app, both die-hard Trekkers and casual show enthusiasts are able to delve into a rich array of computer sounds, images and Star Trek-related information.”
Three particularly passionate Trek fans played pivotal roles in the inspiration of the Star Trek PADD App: Eric Shapiro, Denise Okuda and Michael Okuda. Shapiro, of ArcTouch, developed the app, while Michael Okuda was in charge of the computer interface designs of the Starships Enterprise as part of his job as scenic art supervisor and technical consultant on TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise, and Denise Okuda was a graphic artist and video/computer graphics supervisor on DS9, Voyager and Enterprise.
“I am a huge Star Trek fan,” says Shapiro, who co-founded ArcTouch in 2009 with Adam Fingerman after a career spent at Apple, where they worked as product managers on what eventually became iOS. “My dad was a fan, and I think I’ve been watching Star Trek since I was born, which was two years after the original show started in 1966. I have been to several conventions and I’m lucky my wife is just as much of a fan. At my first startup, one of my employees got me the book Make It So: Leadership Lessons from Star Trek. I'm not saying I'm Captain Picard, but one can always dream.’
And why now for a Star Trek PADD app? “We came up with this proposal because, as Star Trek fans, with the launch of the iPad, technology finally hit the point where we could simulate the PADD device,” Shapiro replies. “Then the question was: how do we transport people today into that future universe, and that’s where the conversation with CBS began.” A highlight of the process came when Shapiro and the ArcTouch team offered a demonstration of the app to the Okudas. “(That) was one of the most nerve-wracking moments,” Shapiro recalls. “Michael was the official designer of the LCARS computers displays used in TNG, DS9 and Voyager. Getting Michael and Denise’s approval is a huge feather in our cap.”
And, indeed, the Okudas were duly impressed. “My favorite part of the Star Trek PADD app?” Michael Okuda asks, repeating a question just posed to him. “I love being able to use a functional implementation of my LCARS interface style to browse through actual Star Trek information. Back when the PADD first appeared on TNG, none of us imagined that today we’d be able to hold the real thing in our hands. But the Star Trek PADD App, running on your iPad, is an actual miniature, handheld, touch-sensitive, 24th-century-style computer screen.”
Adds Denise Okuda, “The Star Trek PADD app shows that yesterday’s visionary science fiction can become today’s real-world technology, thanks to the brilliance of today’s scientists, engineers, programmers, and designers. The Star Trek PADD app is a little piece of Star Trek’s future brought to life. It’s not only authentic Trek, but it’s fun, too.”
The Star Trek PADD app can be purchased for $4.99 on the App Store for the iPad.
Check out screenshots from the PADD below:
Sound off: Do any of you Trekkies think you'll buy the app? What do you think about the interface only being made available on the iPad and not on iPhone or Android devices?!

Dimension Films announced today that it has acquired the rights to the popular futuristic comedy guidebook How to Defeat Your Own Clone written by Kyle Kurpinski and Terry D. Johnson. Ed Ricourt who wrote the feature treatment is also set to adapt the script. Ricourt was part of the Marvel writing program, and his script Now You See Me is currently in pre-production, starring Jesse Eisenberg and to be directed by Louis Leterrier. There is no director attached to Clone at this early stage. The announcement was made by Bob Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Company (TWC).

In the year 2013, the first human Clone was created and within years Clones were in most homes only to be taken advantage of by their human owners and treated as slaves. Following a revolution, civil war erupted between Mankind and their Clone creations who were fighting for their freedom. The Clones won. In this new world where Clones dominate, we follow Ethan on his quest to turn the tide of the war back in our favor against impossible odds. Clones may have the same DNA blueprint as humans, but they are younger, stronger, healthier and more evolved. Is Mankind prepared to outsmart and defeat their own Clones?

How to Defeat Your Own Clone is being produced by Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Eric Robinson at The Gotham Group. Peter McHugh at The Gotham Group is Executive Producer. Overseeing for Dimension Films are SVP of Production, Matthew Stein and VP of Production and Creative Affairs, Matthew Signer.

"I'm excited to be working with Gotham and Ed Ricourt and feel this story has a fun and unique take on cloning that will be an entertaining movie for audiences," said Bob Weinstein.

"When I first found this book, I knew it had amazing potential for an exciting and unique film, and Ed Ricourt has delivered upon that potential. As a producer, I couldn't be more energized to be in business with Bob and my former colleagues at TWC/Dimension. This is the right home for this movie," said Eric Robinson of The Gotham Group.

The deal was negotiated for Dimension Films by Matthew Stein, Matthew Signer and Adrian Lopez, Director of Business and Legal; for The Gotham Group by George Davis at Nelson Davis Wetzstein LLP; for Ed Ricourt by CAA and George Davis at Nelson Davis Wetzstein LLP; and for Kyle Kurpinski and Terry D. Johnson by Justin Manask at Office for Literary Adaptation and Marcy Morris at Jackoway Tyerman. Ricourt is represented by CAA and The Gotham Group. CAA also represents The Gotham Group who produced Abduction, directed by John Singleton, which comes out later this year.

Seriously, if you had a clone how much wackier would your life be? Make a bucket list for your clone and give us the top three to-do's!!

"There has been so much chatter about an Angry Birds' movie, but it's now real. The process is starting now. People are interacting with these characters six inches from them each time they play, and that creates an emotional connection. This is not an American thing. It's not even a Finnish thing. It's a global thing that's something I've never seen before. It will be exciting to expand (this intellectual property) within Hollywood."

Finnish animation studio Kombo, which was acquisitioned last year by Rovio, will produce a series of animated shorts introducing each character, leading directly into the launch of the feature film. It isn't known how soon the first of these shorts will become available to the viewing public, but Angry Birds is in development.

Three cheers for the Cinema Gods! If it's produced in 3-D we'll be in the theatre taking count of all the simulated "bird-in-my-face" reactions. Are you excited about this new project?

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